Canning retort



1968 M. w. LOVELESS 3,

CANNING RETORT Filed April 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g I 32 2o FIG.I 2 2 28 ;I I I2 I El 24 2f 1 26B T Z 7 INVENTOR.

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CANNING RE'I'ORT Filed April 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MARION W. LOVELESS av w/ a o- ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,417,881 CANNING RETORT Marion W. Loveless, 419 S. Allegheny, Tulsa, Okla. 74112 Filed Apr. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 542,572 2 Claims. (Cl. 214-17) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to an improved canning retort including means of automatically limiting the discharge of cans from a lower opening of the retort. More particularly, the invention includes an upstanding pressurizable vessel having a sealable opening in the top for receiving cans and a scalable opening in the bottom for the discharge of cans and including a horizontal free swinging can retarding baffle pivoted within the vessel in the lower portion thereof, the baffle extending substantially of the full interior width of the vessel and having opposed downwardly inclined winged portions, the baflle pivoting to one side or the other by action of cans passing downwardly in the vessel, the pivoting baffle serving to limit the rate of discharge of cans from the vessel.

This invention relates to an improved canning retort. More particularly, the invention relates to a canning retort of the type including an upright pressurizable vessel having an opening in the top into which cans are received and a large diameter opening in the bottom through which cans are discharged, and including a pivoted horizontal swinging can retarded bafiie within the vessel in the lower portion thereof to control the rate of discharge of cans from the vessel.

In United States Patent 3,235,103 an improved canning retort is described of the type utilizing an upright vessel. In this type of canning retort, the vessel is substantially filled with water and then cans of food, to be cooked in the vessel, are dropped into the opened top. After the cans are deposited within the vessel the water is drained from the vessel, the top is closed and sealed and the vessel pressurized and heated for a predetermined length of time to effect the required canning process. Upon completion of the canning process the lower sealed lid of the vessel is opened permitting the cans to be discharged at the lower end of the vessel onto a moving belt whereby they are carried away for further processing, such as labeling, packaging, and so forth. The canning retort of this patent works completely satisfactorily. However, when a large size cooker is filled with cans, especially the large size cans, the weight of the cans tends to bend and deform those cans at the bottom. In addition, in some instances there is a tendency for the cans, when the lower lid is opened, to bridge across the opening since there is nothing within the vessel to prevent all of the cans in the lower portion thereof from attempting to pass through the lower opening at the same time.

This invention provides a means which assists in automatically controlling the rate of discharge of cans from the retort in such a way as to support a portion of the weight of the cans and to substantially prevent the crowding of the cans with resulting bridging of the cans across the lower opening.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved canning retort.

More specifically, an object of this invention is to provide an improved canning retort including a swinging batiie means for supporting a portion of the weight of cans within the retort to minimize the bending of those cans at the bottom and for controlling the rate of discharge of cans from the retort.

3,417,881 Patented Dec. 24, 1 968 Still more particularly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved canning retort utilizing an upright pressurizable vessel into which cans are received in the upper end and discharged through a relatively large opening in the lower portion including a baffle, the bafiie being positioned above the lower portion of the vessel, the baffle serving to support a portion of the Weight of the cans to minimize the bending of the lower cans, the baflie automatically swinging to one side or the other to permit downward passage of cans from one side while retarding the passage of cans from the other side so as to effectively prevent the bridging of cans across the opening.

These objects as well as others will be fulfilled by the device to be now described in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an external view of the canning retort of this invention showing a portion of the side wall of the vessel being broken away to disclose the inner swinging bafile.

FIGURE 2 is a reduced scale cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the lower portion of the canning retort of this invention showing cans being discharged from the vessel and further showing the arrangement wherein the swinging baflie has been pivoted in one direction by the movement of the downwardly passing cans.

FIGURE 4 is a view as shown in FIGURE 3 but show ing the swinging can retarding bafiie of this invention pivoted in the opposite direction by the downward movement of cans through the retort.

Referring now to the drawings and first to FIGURE 1, the canning retort of this invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and includes an upright pressurizable vessel 12. Legs or other means of supporting vessel 12 are not shown. At the upper end of the vessel 12 there is provided a pressure sealable top lid generally indicated by the numeral 14 which closes top opening 15. The top lid 14 is of the type which, when in the open position, exposes the rather large diameter opening 15 in the top of the vessel for receiving cans into the vessel and which, after the vessel is filled with cans, is closed to a pressuretight seal. Details of such a pressurizable top lid arrangement are illustrated in the copending application Serial No. 419,075, now Patent 3,311,255, entitled Hydraulic Operated Lid for Canning Retort, and filed Dec. 17, 1964. The lower end of the vessel 12 includes a bottom closure generally indicated by the numeral 16 which functions in the same manner but obversely of the top closure 14. The bottom closure 16 is closed and pressure sealed opening 17 to retain cans within vessel 12 and is opened to permit the discharge of cans from the vessel after the canning process. The details of construction and the operation of the bottom closure 16 are fully set forth in the aforementioned United States Patent 3,235,103. Basically, this bottom closure includes a slidable lid 18 which is slid into position and then forced upwardly into sealed contact during the canning process, and which is moved laterally to expose opening 17 for discharge of the cans. As the cans are discharged through the opening 17 they fall downwardly from the vessel and onto a vibrating chute 20 and from there, as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, onto a moving belt 22.

This invention relates to a vessel 10 including a horizontal swinging can retarding baflie generally indicated by the numeral 24. Basically, the bafile consists of opposed downwardly inclined wing portions 26A and 26B. The wing portions 26A and 26B extend downwardly from a horizontal pivot member 28 and define in a plane perpendicular the axis of the pivot member an inverted V, the pivot axis being adjacent the apex of the inverted V.

In the preferred embodiment, the wing portions 26A and 26B are integral, that is, formed of the single flat piece of metal and having inwardly extending end portions 30 which serve to increase the strength and rigidity of the wing portions.

The pivot member 28 is illustrated as comprised of a length of tubular pipe to which the Wing portions 26A and 26B are affixed, the pipe pivoting about an axial rod 32.

FIGURE 2 shows an arrangement wherein the interior of the vessel 12 has affixed thereto spaced bearing blocks 34A and 34B. Each of the bearing blocks includes an opening 36 which receives opposite ends of rod 32. Obviously, in the exemplified embodiment, the rod 32 may rotate within opening 36 in bearing blocks 34A and 34B, or the rod may be nonrotatably supported by the bearing blocks and the pivot member 28 rotates about the rod. Either arrangement produces identical results. In addition, it is obvious that many other methods of pivotally supporting the baffile within the retort would be readily suggested.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 4, the method of operation of the invention is illustrated. When the cooking process is finished, the bottom lid 18 is withdrawn permitting the cans within the retort to pass downwardly and out of the retort, onto chute 2t) and from there on to belt 22 where they are carried away for labeling and so forth. When the bottom lid 18 is open there is an inherent tendency for all of the cans within the retort, which may number several hundred, the total number depending upon the size of cans and the size of the retort, to crowd towards the lower vessel opening 17. In prior used canning retorts of this type, not having the baffle 24 of this invention, cans crowding towards the lower opening tended to cause the cans to bridge across, that is, form an impass so that no cans would fall through the opening and downwardly onto chute 20. The bafile of this invention functions automatically to substantially eliminate this problem.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the baffle 24 has been pivoted by the fall of cans primarily to the right side of the vessel. This pivotation extends wing portion 26A towards the adjacent interior wall of the vessel to substantially block the passage of cans downwardly along the left side of the vessel. Thus, the flow of cans will be primarily from the side of the baffle of wing portion 26B. The cans therefore flow downwardly primarily from only one side. This substantially eliminates the chance of the cans becoming bridged across the bottom opening 17 of the vessel.

The direction of pivotation of the bafiie 24 occurs by chance, the baffle being pivoted to one side or the other according to the way the cans happen to be stacked in the vessel. The battle will be pivoted according to which side first begins the most prominent downward flow when the bottom lid 18 is opened. FIGURE 4 illustrates the circumstances wherein the left side, that is, the side towards which the wing portion 26A extends, has paramount downward flow in which situation wing portion 26B substantially blocks the downward passage of cans on the right side of the vessel.

In the event the downward flow of cans is exactly equal, an unlikely occurrence, the bafile 24 will not be pivoted to either side, but in such event will limit the downward flow of cans on either side which serves to substantially eliminate the possibility of bridging across the lower opening of the vessel.

After the baffle 24 has swung to the left or the right, as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, causing the flow of cans predominantly from one side or the other of the vessel, and after the cans on such side have substantially been evacuated from the vessel, the baffle 24 freely pivots in the opposite direction permitting the retarded cans to fall. Thus the baffle automatically serves to limit the rate of discharge of cans from the vessel and prevents their bridging across the vessel lower opening.

It can be seen that the baffle serves to support a substantial portion of the weight of the cans above the baifie, both during the canning process and while the cans are being discharged. This substantially cuts in half the total effective weight bearing upon the lower cans to minimize the bending of the cans, as well as controlling the rate of discharge.

While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in details of construction and arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

What is claimed:

1. An improved canning retort comprising:

an upstanding pressurizable vessel having a scalable opening in the top thereof for receiving cans therein and a scalable opening in the bottom for discharge of cans therefrom; and

a horizontal free swinging can retarding bafile pivoted within said vessel in the lower portion thereof, the said baffle extending substantially the full interior width of the said vessel and having opposed downwardly inclined wing portions defining, in the crosssection perpendicular the pivot axis, an inverted V, the pivot axis being adjacent the inverted V apex.

2. An improved canning retort according to claim 1 including opposed bearing blocks affixed to the interior wall of said vessel pivotally receiving each end of said bathe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 359,918 31887 Campbell 193-31 3,235,103 2-1966 Loveless 214-17 ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

